In order to fill nursing staffing deficits, both Vitalité and Horizon Health Networks have been hiring travel nurses from private temp agencies.
The network has hired “less than 10” travel nurses since the summer, according to Margaret Melanson, interim CEO and president of Horizon, who spoke during a press conference on Monday.
“We did seek out to several travel nurses because of the circumstance we were in.
In particular, I’m asking whether there’s a travel nurse that could help us out in our emergency room or our critical care units,” she stated.
In a statement sent to Global News, Brenda Kinney, VP Chief Nursing Officer for Horizon Health, said, “At present, travel nurses are providing temporary relief at Horizon’s Saint John Regional Hospital and the Moncton Hospital.
” Vitalité senior vice-president of Clinical Programs and Nursing, Sharon Smyth-Okana, did not specify how many travel nurses the network has hired, but told Global News in a statement: “It is important to say that hiring travel nurses is not a practice advocated by the Network. However, the standard of care is our first concern. We do it only as a last resort and for the shortest period of time possible.
“The New Brunswick Nurses Union is against the practise of using private firms to hire nurses.
The cost of employing travel nurses through agencies is much higher than hiring them through more conventional channels.
According to the union, nurses employed through agencies may receive pay that is between 1.5 and 2 times that of a regular employee.
Paula Doucet, president of the NB Nurses Union, stated in an interview on Monday that it is regrettable that the situation in our province has developed to the point where we must rely on agency nurses from the private sector.
Since several years ago, we have been raising the alarm about the personnel shortage we are currently experiencing, she added.
Health Minister Bruce Fitch said he believes this is a necessary stop-gap measure.
“There’s no denying that it costs more.
However, there will also be a cost if we are forced to close an emergency department, a wing, or are unable to treat patients as they arrive. Therefore, it’s an investment in the New Brunswick health care system, he stated at a press conference on Monday.
Along with the province’s recruitment efforts, Doucet thinks retention is crucial in preventing the need for travel nurses.
In order to ensure that the new nurses we hire have a solid mentor, orientation, and support structure in place as well as a lighter burden overall, she added, “We need to start maintaining the expertise and knowledge that we have in our system now.”
Employing temporary travel nurses from private companies in New Brunswick
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